Setting Up New 55Gal Or 75Gal Tank

[Bebobb]

A normal 55 gallon is 48.25"x 12.75". A regular 75 gallon is 48.5"x18.5"

 

[fatheadminnow]

A 55 would be the safe bet in this situation. IMO, I think it looks nice to have a bit of a ledge.

Here is my 55 gallon tank with a custom stand I made. The tank sits a couple inches back from the front of the stand, which, IMO, makes it look really nice.

Here is a little easier one to see:

-FHM

 

[dchaves]

yeah i think im gonna go with the 55 gal, now onto which fish, ive grown really fond to the volitan lionfish, but idk how well that would work if i wanted to put 2 or 3 more fish in the tank

BTW nice tank!

 

[fatheadminnow]

I may have missed this...lol... but how are you planning on cycling the tank? Fishless!?

-FHM

 

[Bebobb]

yeah i think im gonna go with the 55 gal, now onto which fish, ive grown really fond to the volitan lionfish, but idk how well that would work if i wanted to put 2 or 3 more fish in the tank

BTW nice tank!

I would try and dissuade you from saltwater. If you want to go into saltwater, many experts reccomend that you have a few years expirence in freshwater. If you really want to go saltwater, look into a nano reef. Even though you won't be able to have a 55 gallon a nano reef (lol) you will gain some expirence in saltwater from it.

 

[dchaves]

hmmm looks like my last post didnt show, i think im gonna go with the 55 gal cause i too think itll look better with a little bit of a ledge,

i am gonna do a fishless cycle, i wanna get everything perfect before i put any fish in,

now about fish, i have grown fond to a valitan lionfish, but idk how well that would work if i wanted to put in 2-3 more fish

 

[fatheadminnow]

A Valitan Lionfish is a saltwater fish.

Have you decided what you are going to do? Fresh or salty?

-FHM

 

[dchaves]

Yeah I know its a saltwater fish, i wanna do saltwater. i know freshwater would probably be better because its easier but ive been looking at a lot of saltwater fish and ive been liking them more then freshwater

 

[Bebobb]

Well, it's your decision, not mine, but I sure wouldn't just jump into saltwater without much expirence in fish keeping in general. I'm still shaky about jumping into saltwater, and I have been in the hobby for almost two years. But I would start out with a nano reef before I started a SW tank that size.

 

[fatheadminnow]

That's cool! Unfortunately this section of the forum focuses on freshwater fish only; so the best place on this forum to get advice on saltwater fish is in the salt water section further down on this forum on the main page.

Also, as for cycling a saltwater tank; it is completely different than cycling a freshwater tank.

The beneficial bacteria that are found in saltwater tanks live on coral/live rock (LR). So, what you do is, completely setup your saltwater tank with the correct level of salt. Then, you go out and get some coral/LR from your LFS and just add that to your tank. You can also put some in your filter(in smaller amounts of course) along with foam/sponge media. Anyways, the LR will actually "self-cycle" your tank. There are thousands of organisms on the LR which grow and die of really quickly, causing ammonia to enter the tank, then the BB (Beneficial bacteria) on the LR will colonize (rather quickly) to process the ammonia to nitrite then to nitrate (same as freshwater). In about a weeks time your tank will be cycled. Go ahead and add a CUC (Clean up crew(you are going to have to ask what fish these are)) to clean the tank up. Then you will be ready to add your fish, slowly of course, over weeks so that the bacteria can catch up.

If you run a skimmer, you will not have to do as frequent water changes. If you do not run a skimmer, you will have to do weekly water changes.

You also need to get RO (reverse Osmosis) water. This is special water that you mix salt with to put in your tank. You cannot use tap water for a saltwater tank.

You can either have an RO unit installed in your house (which is really expensive) or your LFS should sell RO.

Hope this helps!

-FHM

 

[dchaves]

Wow! that helps alot thanks! yeah i think im gonna set up a nano reef in my 10 gallon to start while i save up enough money for everything for my 55 gallon. sorry for having this in the wrong section the post started out differently hah

 

[Bebobb]

Wow! that helps alot thanks! yeah i think im gonna set up a nano reef in my 10 gallon to start while i save up enough money for everything for my 55 gallon. sorry for having this in the wrong section the post started out differently hah

That's exactly what I would do. I have looked into nano reefs a couple times... BUt never saved enough to actually buy a tank for one.

 

[dchaves]

does anyone know how much a nano reef would roughly cost to start

 

[fatheadminnow]

Not sure really... but you need to get some good salt, a tester to test how much slat you have in your tank, a saltwater test kit and the LR for starters. In a 10 gallon nano, I would not run a skimmer, just do weekly water changes.

-FHM

 

[Bebobb]

Not sure really... but you need to get some good salt, a tester to test how much slat you have in your tank, a saltwater test kit and the LR for starters. In a 10 gallon nano, I would not run a skimmer, just do weekly water changes.

-FHM

And then live rock, live sand, and corals.